Former Infotonics Center gets $20 million investment

A roughly $20 million dollar investment is being made at the former Infotonics Technology Center in Canandaigua to create the first pilot production line for organic light emitting diode lighting panels, a move that officials said would result in the creation of more than 50 local jobs.

An announcement was made Thursday at the Ontario County site, now part of the Albany-based College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s Smart System Technology & Commercialization Center.

Moser Baer India Ltd. is investing $11.5 million to acquire equipment for the manufacturing line. The initiative also is getting a $4 million grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the United States Department of Energy. Additional incentives are being provided by Empire State Development Corp., the Smart Technology & Commercialization Center and through Empire Zone benefits received with help from Ontario County and city of Geneva officials.

The center’s leaders said the pilot production should be up and running in the next 18 months and will be housed in roughly 10,000-square-feet of space now available at the Canandaigua site. Moser Baer Technologies Inc.— the U.S.-based subsidiary of the Indian firm––will have operations there, as well, and is working with New Jersey-based Universal Display Corp. on the project.